The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Health Care Campus together with philanthropists Andi and Larry Wolfe, announced the establishment of the Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering
The Technion is one of the few academic institutions in the world in which the Faculty of Medicine operates alongside engineering and scientific faculties. The university conducts extensive teaching and research activities in the fields of medicine as well as biomedical engineering, computing, design, and architecture.
The Rambam Health Care Campus is heavily active in the research and innovation fields through its partnerships with its Division of Research, technology transfer company Rambam MedTech, and the MindUp incubator in cooperation with IBM, Medtronic, and Pitango VC.
The Wolfe Center will elevate the partnership between Rambam and the Technion and will serve as a platform for comprehensive clinical applied research to advance human health technologies that address unmet clinical needs. Interdisciplinary teams will collaborate to solve human health issues, translate research insights into innovative therapeutic tools, and train the next generation of doctors and engineers.
The Center will be located within the Rambam campus inside the Helmsley Health Discovery Tower and serves as the first joint project of its kind between Rambam, academia, and the biomedical high-tech industry. The Tower will also host centers of excellence, clinical institutes, innovation centers, and several start-up companies, alongside an exhibition and visitor center.
“Research and innovation are critical components in the success of the healthcare system in the 21st century. The tremendous contribution of the Wolfe family will enable us to increase our capabilities. Research is now a necessity for keeping Israeli doctors relevant in a competitive and constantly evolving field. The new center will allow us to convince doctors who are engaged in the difficult, demanding clinical field to continue to work in a large medical center, by providing opportunities for advanced research,” said MikI Halberthal, professor and general director of Rambam Health Care Campus.
“Human health is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century and coping with this challenge requires a combination of capabilities from different worlds of content, from the patient’s bed and the doctors around it, to scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines,” said Technion President Professor Uri Sivan. “Today, the Technion is creating a revolution aimed at connecting all those disciplines to deal with major challenges in human health, and the Wolfe Center will express the combination of the capabilities of one of Israel’s leading hospitals with a world-renowned scientific-technological university.”
The Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION) has announced the establishment of the country’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) research institute for medical technology solutions.
The Technion’s Zimin Institute for AI Solutions in Healthcare, which was jointly launched and operated with the Russian charity Zimin Foundation on Sunday, will focus on multidisciplinary research and technological development in human health and medicine using big data and computational learning, according to a statement from Technion.
Zimin Institute for AI Solutions intends to improve human healthcare on all levels, including hospitals, clinics, drug development, home therapy, and medical wearables. “This new centre is a crucial component of Technion President Uri Sivan’s goal of collaboration and connectivity between research, engineering, and medicine,” said Technion President Uri Sivan.
“It will support applied research that will speed the creation of new and important technologies with real-world applications,” he added.
The Israeli Institute of Technology continues to be at the forefront of groundbreaking solutions to help protect our planet.
This development coincides with Better Speech and Hearing Month
Israeli scientists at the Technion – Israel Institute of Science have engineered a working ear, alongside Sheba Medical Centre.
Led by Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, the team combined techniques of organ printing, tissue engineering and the extraction of human cells to create a custom implant that can be used to replace ears that don’t develop properly in utero.
The scaffold, which allows for the formation of the new ear, is designed from a CT scan of the patient’s ear.
It is hoped the breakthrough will significantly help children with microtia – a condition in which the underdeveloped ear is small, malformed and sometimes unable to hear.
Previously, it was treated using cartilage tissue from the ribs, which is both painful and comes with the risk of added complications. The new surgery can also be performed at the age of six instead of after 10, which may also help reduce the psychological effects for children who, up until now, have had to start school with a malformed ear.
It could also be tailored to “other applications, such as nasal reconstruction and fabrication of various orthopedic implants”, Professor Levenberg hopes.
Microtia affects 0.1% to 0.3% of births.
Each May, Better Hearing and Speech Month helps raise awareness about communication disorders and hearing health.
The Israeli Institute of Technology continues to be at the forefront of groundbreaking solutions to help protect our planet
The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology signed a historic agreement with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) this week to promote academic cooperation between the two universities.
This document was said to be the first of its kind to be signed between these two institutions.
An agreement to recognize the academic collaboration was signed by UM6P President Mr. Hicham El Habti, Technion President Professor Uri Sivan, Senior Vice President of the Technion Professor Oded Rabinovitch, and Vice President of Research Professor Koby Rubinstein at a ceremony held at the Technion. The ceremony was chaired by Technion Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development Professor Alon Wolf.
The agreements were reached through the initiation of diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco in December 2020 with the Abraham Accords.
Technion President Professor. Uri Sivan addressed the delegation and said that their visit to the Technion “reflects a rapid and dramatic historical change in the region. We at the Technion are determined to participate in leading this process and building bridges through education and research. Since the Abraham Accords, we have received delegations from the UAE and Bahrain, countries that none of us ever imagined would come to visit. Both of our institutions – the Technion and UM6P – educate young people and equip them for the future. The cooperation we are establishing here today goes beyond its academic value; it is our duty to the region and to the future of the next generation.”
“Today we are signing a piece of paper,” The President of Morocco’s Mohammed VI University, Mr. Hicham El Habti, said at the ceremony, “but what is more important is what is behind it – the mutual desire for cooperation, which will lead to student and faculty exchange from both institutions. It is an honor to be here at the Technion – and a great responsibility. We are part of a historic era, and we must continue to strengthen ties between Morocco and Israel. As a very young university, we are open to international cooperation and are delighted to establish this relationship with you.”
After the signing, both presidents exchanged gifts. Mr. Hicham El Habti gave the Technion President a book on the history of Moroccan Jewry, and Prof. Sivan gave the UM6P President a glass engraving bearing the symbol of the Technion.
In March, the Technion received a historic visit from a Moroccan delegation led by El Habti.
“There are many similarities between Morocco and Israel,” said Prof. Koby Rubinstein, Executive Vice President for Research of the Technion, “both in the physical terrain and climatic conditions, as well as in our people and interests. This cooperation is important to us and has every reason to be successful.”
“We introduce a novel, customizable three-dimensional interface for producing scalable structures, utilizing real data collected from coral ecosystems,” explains Ph.D. student Natalie Levy.
(April 29, 2022 / JNS) The world’s coral reefs are becoming extinct due to many factors such as global warming and accelerated urbanization in coastal areas, which places tremendous stress on marine life.
“The rapid decline of coral reefs has increased the need for exploring interdisciplinary methods for reef restoration,” explains Natalie Levy, a Ph.D. student at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. “Examining how to conserve the biodiversity of coral reefs is a key issue, but there is also an urgent need to invest in technology that can improve the coral ecosystem and our understanding of the reef environment.”
In a paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researchers from four of Israel’s leading universities highlight a three-dimensional printing method they developed to preserve coral reefs. Their innovation is based on the natural structure of coral reefs off the southern coastal Israeli city of Eilat, but their model is adaptable to other marine environments and may help curb reef devastation plaguing coral ecosystems around the world.
The joint research was led by Professor Oren Levy and Ph.D. student Levy of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University; Professor Ezri Tarazi and Ph.D. student Ofer Berman from the Architecture and Town Planning Faculty at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology; Professor Tali Treibitz and Ph.D. student Matan Yuval from the University of Haifa; and Professor Yossi Loya of Tel Aviv University.
The process begins by scanning underwater photographs of coral reefs. From this visual information, a 3D model of the reef is assembled with maximum accuracy. Thousands of images are photographed and sent to the laboratory to calculate the complex form of the reef and how that form encourages the evolution of reef species diversity.
Next, researchers use a molecular method of collecting environmental genetic information, which provides accurate data on the reef’s organisms. This data is incorporated with other parameters and is fed into a 3D-technology algorithm, making it possible to build a parametric interactive model of the reef. The model can be designed to precisely fit the designated reef environment.
The final stage is the translation and production of a ceramic reef in 3D printing.
The reefs are made of ceramic that is naturally porous underwater, providing the most ideal construction and restoration needs to the affected area or for the establishment of a new reef structure as a foundation for the continuation of life. “Three-dimensional printing with natural material facilitates the production of highly complex and diverse units that is not possible with the usual means of mold production,” says Tarazi.
The process combines 3D-scanning algorithms, together with environmental DNA sampling, and a 3D-printing algorithm that allows in-depth and accurate examination of the data from each reef, as well as tailoring the printed model to a specific reef environment. In addition, data can be refed into the algorithm to check the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the design after it has been implemented, based on information collected in the process.
The workflow of 3D interface, starting with data collection using molecular tools and 3D imaging. Credit: Natalie Levy and Professor Ofer Berman of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University.
“Existing artificial reefs have difficulty replicating the complexity of coral habitats and hosting reef species that mirror natural environments. We introduce a novel, customizable 3D interface for producing scalable structures, utilizing real data collected from coral ecosystems,” explains Levy.
Berman adds that “the use of 3D printing allows for the extensive freedom of action in algorithm-based solutions, as well as the assimilation of sustainable production for the development of large-scale marine rehabilitation.”
This study meets two critical needs to save coral reefs, according to the researchers. The first is the need for innovative solutions that facilitate large-scale restoration that can be adapted to support coral reefs worldwide. The second is the recreation of a natural complexity of the coral reef, both in size and design, that will attract reef species such as fish and invertebrates that support the regrowth of natural coral reefs.
The researchers are currently installing several 3D-printed reefs in the Gulf of Eilat. They believe that the results they obtain will help them apply this innovation to other reef ecosystems around the world.
A new Technion study looks at how marine organisms produce hard tissues from the materials available to them, and under harsh and hostile conditions.
An international research group led by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has recently deciphered the process through which marine organisms develop their hard and durable skeletons.
The wonders of underwater engineering
The study, led by Prof. Boaz Pokroy, doctoral student Nuphar Bianco-Stein and researcher Dr. Alex Kartsman from the Technion Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering conducted the study with the assistance of Dr. Catherine Dejoie from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US.
The researchers focused their efforts on the involvement of magnesium-containing calcite in the biomineralization process – the process by which living organisms produce minerals to harden or stiffen existing tissues. Calcite is a common mineral that constitutes about 4% of the mass of the Earth’s crust.
“Biomineralization processes build structures that surpass artificial products of engineering processes in many aspects, such as strength and resistance to fractures,” Pokroy said.
What can we learn from the starfish?
The researchers found that the deposits of calcite particles in magnesium-poor substances create compression in the organisms’ skeletons that increase their rigidity. This occurs naturally, without the need for mechanical compression used in the production of similar materials in classical synthetic engineering processes.
“We have discovered that this phenomenon occurs in a huge variety of creatures, even creatures from different kingdoms in the animal world, and we estimate that it is even broader than what we have discovered,” Pokroy said. “Therefore, it is likely to be a very general phenomenon.”
The study was supported by an EU grant from the European Research Council.
Nine different organisms were examined, including brittle stars, red algae, starfish, coral and sea urchins. In brittle stars, the crystallization process is used for its calcite lenses, which essentially function as eyes scattered all over their arms.
Red algae, however, use the magnesium-calcite crystals to coat all their cells and increase durability as the algae are subjected to the pressures and physical trauma of shallow waters.
“There is no doubt,” Pokroy concluded, “that we have a lot to learn from these biological processes, and that our findings may lead to improved engineering processes in a variety of areas.”
Israeli smart mobility company Innoviz Technologies, announced on MondGrowth of muscle tissue on a plant-based ‘scaffold’ marks another milestone in the development of cultivated meat using 3D bioprinting.
A bioprinted plant-based “scaffolding” helps the successful cultivation of edible muscle fibers, researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered.
The development of cultivated meat, i.e. meat that does not involve the raising and slaughtering of animals, is a potential solution for the growing need for meat products following population growth, the environmental damage caused by breeding cattle, and the increasing awareness to animal welfare.
To fulfill the promise of cultivated meat to meet various consumer expectations, there is a need for technologies that allow for the production of whole muscle cuts that are as similar as possible – in terms of taste, smell, and culture – to those slaughtered from animals.
The process is outlined in a new article in Biomaterials by Professor Shulamit Levenberg and Ph.D. student Iris Ianovici of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with cultivated meat producers Aleph Farms.
PhD student Iris Ianovici, left, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering
Other partners in the research described in the article are Dr. Yedidya Zagury, Dr. Idan Redensky, and Dr. Neta Lavon.
Researchers think that besides the scientific-engineering accomplishment, this technology is likely to enable the robust production of cultivated meat at large scale in the near future.
Levenberg became involved in cultivated meat several years ago after recognizing that her inventions in tissue engineering for medical needs were relevant for growing cultivated meat. Her research on the subject led to the founding of Aleph Farms, which sponsored the research study now being published. Last year, Aleph Farms presented the first cultivated ribeye steak in history – created in the Levenberg lab – and has since pursued the development of new products. Aleph Farms’ CEO is Didier Toubia, Levenberg is Chief Scientific Advisor, and Lavon is the company’s CTO.
The ability to produce a wide variety of cultivated meat products was the primary focus of the present research, which sought to develop the technology for creating thicker cultivated steaks while using alternative materials as “scaffolding.”
Enabling the perfusion of nutrients across the thicker tissue has been a significant challenge, with most of the currently used scaffolding materials for growing tissues being derived from animals. In the article, the Technion researchers present a solution in the form of an alternative bio-ink, which is used to bioprint scaffolds from animal-free proteins, as well as living animal cells.
The bio-ink contains the cells that will form the muscle tissue – satellite cells originating from a biopsy taken from livestock, and is formulated by combining alginate (a compound found within the cell walls of brown algae) and proteins isolated from plants – soy or pea proteins. The printing process enables the creation of protein-enriched scaffolds with different geometries. The printing process is based on a method in which the bio-ink is deposited into a suspension bath that supports the materials during printing.
After the scaffolds were printed with the living animal cells, high cell viability was observed. Furthermore, the cells successfully matured to create muscle fibers as the tissue grew. Since the geometry of the scaffold can be controlled, it is possible to control the introduction of nutrients and the removal of waste from the developing tissue.
“In the engineering process we developed in the lab, we tried to mimic the natural process of tissue formation inside the animal’s body as much as possible,” Levenberg said.
“The cells successfully adhered to the plant-based scaffold, and the growth and differentiation of the cells proved successful as well. Our bio-ink led to a consistent distribution of the cells across the bioprinted scaffold, promoting growth of the cells on top of it. Since we used non-animal-derived materials, like pea protein, which is non-allergenic, our findings promise greater development of the cultivated meat market moving forward,” she added.
PixCell Medical’s HemoScreen performs a CBC in five minutes, enabling infection-vulnerable patients to spend less time in the clinic environment.
Chemotherapy patients are at major risk of infection because they are immunocompromised. Limiting the time they spend in hospitals or clinics for treatments could therefore be a lifesaver.
Israeli company PixCell Medical can help by enabling cancer patients to perform pretreatment blood tests rapidly onsite — or, in the future, at home.
Using a disposable cartridge that includes all necessary reagents and requires no maintenance or calibration, HemoScreen delivers lab-accurate data from a single finger-prick of blood within five minutes.
CBC results show up on the HemoScreen in about five minutes. Photo courtesy of PixCell
“Even before we get approval for home use, we can improve the life of cancer patients dramatically,” says Armin Schon, PixCell’s chief commercial officer.
“They get blood drawn before chemotherapy and if their white blood cell count has recovered sufficiently since the last treatment, they can get the next dose. If not, they are sent home. They have to sit and wait till the central lab returns results, which takes half an hour to several hours,” he explains.
“This is very unpleasant for the patient and inefficient for the clinic’s workflow. Our CBC analyzer can shorten that wait time to a few minutes. A staff member can roll it around from patient to patient and within five minutes say, ‘You are good to go’ or ‘Sorry, come back next week.’”
Armin Schon, CCO of PixCell Medical. Photo courtesy of PixCell
A clinical trial in Denmark led by Changing Cancer Care successfully trained 12 breast-cancer patients to use PixCell’s HemoScreen to perform their CBC test at home. Their results were compatible to standard hospital lab results.
“With HemoScreen, we can potentially save patients significant time and energy exertion when undergoing these serious treatments, and also save time and costs for hospitals,” said Dr. Niels Henrik Holländer, head of Changing Cancer Care and an oncologist at Zealand University Hospital in Næstved.
Into the community
“From day one, the HemoScreen was developed with the goal to be usable by basically everyone with just half an hour or so of training,” says Schon.
“For maximum deployment we want to be independent of expert users, laboratory technicians and other highly skilled people who usually operate this type of equipment, and really go into the community,” he says.
“However, regulatory authorities are very hesitant to allow non-medical personnel to operate this type of equipment, so we have an uphill battle to convince them that this is a safe use and will bring value in the treatment of home-based patients. There’s only one way to do that, and that’s clinical trials.”
To that end, the Danish Ministry of Health has approved a second bigger trial to be done in Denmark and Germany that will include patients with various types of cancer at more advanced stages.
It is these patients who stand to benefit most from spending less time in a clinic, Schon points out.
“We believe that will provide the evidence we need to get approval in Europe for home-based CBC measurements,” he says, and FDA approval for home use could take several more years.
Meanwhile, PixCell won a grant from the International Health-Tech Pilot Program — an alliance between the Israel Innovation Authority and leading US and Europe hospitals — to develop and validate additional applications for HemoScreen.
In addition, the product was named a gold winner in the Testing and Diagnostic Products and Systems category in the 2022 Medical Design Excellence Awards and received Best-in-Show honors.
Devices in 18 countries
Headed by microfluidics expert Avishay Bransky, PixCell Medical was founded in 2009 and launched HemoScreen in the market two years ago.
Although the pandemic prevented the company from traveling internationally to demonstrate HemoScreen, several hundred devices were sold through distributors in 18 countries.
Now, says Schon, “production is fully loaded with orders. We have just opened a US subsidiary, so commercialization is going at full speed.”
Many hospitals have ordered HemoScreen to improve workflow, Schon reports. “Emergency departments in particular benefit from getting results in five minutes.”
However, the device originally was designed for “extreme point of care” uses, such as rural clinics.
It was for just such a purpose that PixCell donated a HemoScreen device, along with hundreds of cartridges, to Ukraine via the Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Schon says the HemoScreen could be used for quick testing and triaging of refugees on the border or in hospitals.
“The reason we dare to donate this system to Ukraine is that a nurse can unbox it and start testing – you just need electricity and reasonable temperatures. The box comes with a leaflet explaining how to do it, and there are short training videos. Within 15 minutes of unboxing you can be using the device.”
Another use of the HemoScreen is for assessing the effects of certain psychiatric drugs that require regular lab visits and venous blood draws because they have potentially lethal effects on the immune system that must be monitored, Schon explains. “We can revolutionize this area by reducing the inconvenience and taking the needle anxiety away.”
From Nikola Tesla to Alexander Graham Bell and George Washington Carver, some of our favorite historical figures are inventors. The love of invention also bleeds into our stories, resulting in characters like Doc Brown, Wayne Szalinski, and Tony Stark. Inventors participate in and build upon scientific advances, putting new knowledge to practical use.
While some inventions don’t stand the test of time, leaving only a blip on our everyday lives, even if they remain in our hearts and minds — we’re looking at you Segway — others radically change the way we live and interact with the world.
Whether or not any particular recent invention is destined to be a flash in the pan or become a long-lasting part of our society remains to be seen. What we do know is that new inventions are making their way into our hands all of the time, and we want you to know about them. Here are the twelve coolest inventions to emerge from the minds of engineers and scientists in April 2022.
Coral reefs are a critical part of ocean ecosystems and they’re suffering from the effects of human activities including global climate change. Reefs account for only 1% of the Earth’s total surface but they sustain the highest level of marine diversity in the world (via How Stuff Works). If our reef systems fail, it will have a staggering impact not just on ocean ecosystems, but also on people all over the world who depend on them.
Consequently, conservationists are hard at work coming up with new and improved ways to sustain and restore remaining reef systems. A new paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment reveals how conservationists are using 3D printers to construct customized artificial reefs.
As explained in the paper, the process begins with scanning the existing reef to identify its core characteristics and replicate them as closely as possible. Then, using a custom printer built in partnership with the Technion Institute of Technology, the reef is laid out.
Instead of the plastic filament commonly used in commercial 3D printers, the reef printer uses terracotta clay because it is porous and favored by coralline algae. Moreover, the printed reefs can be made modular and stacked, such that vast portions of coral reefs could be rebuilt while maintaining the structural variety seen in nature.
Robots are pretty good at discrete, repeatable tasks. That’s why we use them in factory settings where they’re only usually only called upon to the do the one thing they were specifically made for. More complex tasks, however, are typically reserved for humans. At least that was the case before engineers from the Intelligent Systems and Informatics Laboratory at the University of Tokyo built their new banana-peeling robot.
Peeling a banana is such a simple task that even a monkey could — and often does — do it. For robots, peeling a banana is a shockingly difficult task. We’re not asking them to punch parts from sheets of metal or move solid objects from one place to another. Peeling a banana requires finesse.
Peeling a banana also requires spatial awareness. Unlike the parts of a car, for instance, bananas come in all different sizes and shapes. That means the robot can’t simply repeat the same set of motions over and over. Instead, it has to know where the banana is, what part it needs to grasp, and how to move its robotic hands.
Scientists used AI deep learning to mimic the movements of human hands completing the same task. Even with the leading edge of machine learning, it’s still only successful a little more than half the time. In fairness to the robot, we’ve messed up simpler tasks.
A cursory look at Anker’s website will reveal that the brand’s primarily focused on charging solutions from wireless chargers to portable charging blocks. Now, Anker is moving into a new area of engineering with the announcement of its first 3D printer, the AnkerMake M5.
3D printers aren’t exactly breaking news, but the AnkerMake comes with a slate of impressive features poised to make the device a player among existing printers. If you’ve ever started a big print and then walked away, you’ve probably experienced the dismay of checking on your print only to find that it’s come loose from the build plate or lost its sync and now you’re spitting filament all over the place. Not only have you wasted time, but you’ve also burned into your wallet, melting filament into an impressively recreated synthetic tumbleweed.
Anker aims to get around this problem with an AI-enabled camera that keeps an eye on your prints, so you don’t have to. Using a companion app, you can check in on your print at any time, or it will send you an alert if something goes wrong.
According to the Kickstarter campaign, this printer is also at least five times faster than competitors, pumping out large prints in a fraction of the time. If you’ve been waiting to get a printer until they became easier to use, this might be the moment.
Handheld gaming is undergoing something of a revival with the popularity of the Nintendo Switch, Analogue Pocket, and similar retro gaming devices. The biggest limitation of those systems is the quality and selection of games you’re able to play. That’s where the OneXPlayer Mini comes in. It takes the power of a gaming computer and puts it in the palm of your hand.
Building on the popularity of the Steam Deck, OneXPlayer is hoping to capture consumers who are currently waiting for Steam Deck to become available again. The major downside is price — the OneXPlayer can be twice the cost of a Steam Deck, depending on which version you choose.
In exchange for that extra cost, you’ll get your hands on a pretty impressive gaming computer jammed into a handheld shell. It comes standard with Windows pre-installed and is essentially a shrunken gaming laptop.
If you don’t have the patience to wait for the Steam Deck to re-emerge or if you just prefer Windows over Linus, and you have the disposable income, the OneXPlayer Mini could be the solution to your handheld PC gaming needs.
From watches and phones to household appliances, everything is getting smarter. Now, thanks to Apple, that’s also true of your water bottle.
The HidrateSpark Pro Smart Water Bottle — a mouthful, we know — takes all the guesswork out of tracking your water intake. The vacuum-insulated exterior should keep your liquids cold for up to a full day and it has a host of other neat features.
Apple’s smart water bottle integrates with your Apple Watch and Apple Health. It takes into account your daily steps and exercise to calculate how much water you need (per Apple). The LED puck at the bottom of the bottle lights up to remind you when it’s time for a drink and tracks how many ounces or millimeters of water you drink throughout the day, using BlueTooth. You can also get a slightly less expensive version, without the insulation, in the form of the HidrateSpark Pro Tritan Plastic Sea Glass.
If you’ve ever wanted a fancy way to micromanage your basic survival tasks, the HidrateSpark Pro Water Bottle can’t be beat.
Cleanup efforts following the Chernobyl power plant disaster famously utilized lunar rovers like the Lunokhod 1 (per National Space Centre), and other robots, to navigate the irradiated terrain, with variable success. Lunar rovers were chosen specifically because they are designed to withstand the radiation present on the lunar surface, as a result of having no atmosphere.
Now, a new nuclear inspection robot called Lyra is getting in on the action. As explained by Tech Xplore, Lyra was sent through 140 meters of ductwork in Dounreay’s nuclear facilities in Scotland. Lyra is equipped with five radiation detectors, two cameras, lights, a robotic arm, and a LiDAR system for mapping, (per Technology).
The full suite of instruments allowed Lyra to create a 3D video map of the explored area. Using the radiation sensors, the video Lyra returned included readings of radiation hotspots overlayed on top of the images.
Robots like Lyra could allow for more detailed mapping of radiation risks, reducing the need for humans to become exposed as we deal with nuclear incidents like those at Chernobyl or Fukushima, in addition to its role at Dounreay.
Facial recognition software isn’t new, but it is gaining new abilities. You likely have some version of it on your phone right now. We count on those programs to recognize us and grant access to our technology when we need it. We also count on them not to judge us for our appearance, even on our worst days. In the future, however, all of that could change because of a new advancement in facial recognition.
Researchers taught an AI not only to recognize facial features, but to make snap judgements about a person’s appearance. While being judged by a machine might hurt, it has important implications about the ways humans judge one another.
According to a research paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the first impressions we form upon meeting a new person influence decisions we make about them, including decisions about hiring and sentencing.
Researchers used machine learning to train an algorithm to make judgements based on photographs of faces which closely mirrored the judgements we make about ourselves and others. It’s unclear what factors the algorithm used to make its judgments, (per Tech Xplore), but scientists think the data can still teach us how our appearance impacts the way we engage with the world.
If an AI judging you isn’t unsettling enough, it could also be put to nefarious use, by modifying or curating pictures such that a person could present a particular visage to the world.
As interactions between humans and robots become more common, it will become increasingly important that robots have a better sense of the environment around them. The last thing we want is a robot harming someone or breaking something because they don’t know their own strength.
Scientists and engineers from MIT developed a new robotic system that uses Fin Ray grippers imbued with a sense of touch. As explained in a paper uploaded to Arxiv, Fin Ray grippers — which are modeled after fish fins — are useful for their ability to conform to the surface of an object. Rather than bend away from a surface, they curl inward to wrap around it.
Scientists achieved a sense of touch through an array of cameras embedded inside the grippers that watch for the way the fingers deform when in contact with a grasped object. By acutely measuring the way the gripper’s shape changes, they can determine what it’s holding in fine detail.
In tests, they were able to determine the letters on the surface of a glass jar as well as individual seeds ono a plastic strawberry. Incorporating this level of feedback could improve the performance of robots in situations when they are interfacing with people, making them safer and more effective.
While steam-powered jetpacks and skies filled with airships never manifested, at least in any lasting way, we are still living in a steam-powered world. Most of the world’s energy is generated using steam. Whether you’re burning fossil fuels like coal or transforming nuclear radiation into electricity, it all takes a translational step through steam. The heat generated from those sources is used to boil water, generating steam which turns a turbine. That mechanical energy is ultimately what ends up flowing through the wires in your house. Now, thanks to a new heat engine from engineers at MIT, the age of steampunk may be over at last.
The new engine works using thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, which is really just a fancy way of saying it converts photons from heat directly into electricity. Moreover, it has no moving parts, which means it requires less maintenance than conventional turbines, (per Freethink).
While TPV engines have existed for some time, what makes this one special is its efficiency. It converts heat to electricity with 40% efficiency, making it more efficient than steam turbines which typically run at about 35%, (per MIT). According to researchers at MIT, this technology could lead to a decarbonized grid in the future.
Endovascular operations for treating stroke or aneurysms require specialized training in which it takes years to become proficient (per EurkaAlert!). Consequently, only a small portion of doctors are able to complete them and they tend to be located at large medical centers in urban areas, (per MIT).
When a patient is experiencing a stroke or aneurysm, there is a “golden hour” during which they can be treated without lasting consequences. That’s all fine and good if you happen to be located within a few minutes of a major medical center, but for patients in outlying areas without access to specially trained surgeons, that could mean the difference between recovering or not.
With that in mind, engineers at MIT have developed a telerobotic surgical system using a modified joystick that surgeons can use to perform operations remotely. According to a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the system uses a flexible magnetized guidewire to navigate through blood vessels and reach the location of a clot to retrieve it or break it up.
If these systems were set up at hospitals around the country and the world, they could be operated remotely by trained surgeons in other cities, reducing the response time as well as rates of fatality and long-term disability.
Paper is generally seen as a greener material than plastic, largely because plastic is seen as artificial while paper feels more natural. Certainly, paper is more easily recycled but it comes with its own environmental costs which include cutting down trees, processing, and transportation, (via BBC).
Reducing our use of plastics is one way to minimize our impact on the environment, but we also need better ways to reduce paper usage and reuse it when possible. Reusing paper can be difficult, particularly if you’ve already written or printed something on it. There’s little you can do aside from fold it into a paper airplane or chuck it in the recycling bin. Now, according to a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials, reusing your paper might get a lot easier.
Scientists from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a new class of paper made from pollen instead of wood pulp. Pollen may be a greener material in and of itself, because it’s already produced en masse, (via Science Daily), but this paper can also be readily used again.
Researchers put their pollen paper through a process that makes it non-allergenic and then printed on it using a standard laser printer. Treating it with an alkaline solution removed all of the printed material without damaging the paper, allowing it to be used again. In tests, they were able to reuse their paper at least eight times, making it the ultimate in recyclable paper.
There’s nothing better than virtual reality for total immersion, but it’s still lacking a tactile element that would really help the technology level up. According to a recent paper, researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a virtual and augmented reality system which moves the user’s body for them, at least some of the time.
Pads positioned on the neck muscles use electrical muscle stimulation to take control of a player’s body and move it. In a fire safety demonstration, the technology was used to guide a player’s eye-line toward the location of a fire extinguisher or live fire. Additional demonstrations moved a player’s head in response to a punch from a virtual boxing opponent.
Importantly, the system senses what the user is doing in real-time and only initiates an involuntary movement when the muscles aren’t otherwise activated. So, there’s no risk of injury as a result of a triggered motion, even if you’re being punched in VR.
Researchers believe this could change the way VR and AR experiences are developed by removing the need to add visual cues guiding a player.
Document of academic cooperation is a first of its kind, signaling a new era of innovative partnership between the two institutions.
Israel’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) signed a document of academic cooperation in a ceremony at Technion’s Haifa campus on March 31, a first for both institutions.
UM6P focuses on applied research and innovation with an emphasis on African development.
The document was signed by UM6P President Hicham El Habti and Technion’s president, Prof. Uri Sivan, senior vice president, Prof. Oded Rabinovitch, and vice president of research, Prof. Koby Rubinstein.
Evoking the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and Morocco in December 2020, Sivan addressed the Moroccan delegation with a message of mutual cooperation.
“Since the Abraham Accords, we have received delegations from the UAE and Bahrain, countries that none of us ever imagined would come to visit. Both of our institutions – the Technion and UM6P – educate young people and equip them for the future. The cooperation we are establishing here today goes beyond its academic value; it is our duty to the region and the future of the next generation.”
El Habti told his Israeli counterparts, “We are part of an historic era, and we must continue to strengthen ties between Morocco and Israel. As a very young university, we are open to international cooperation and are delighted to establish this relationship with you.”
El Habti gave Sivan a book on the history of Moroccan Jewry, and Sivan gave El Habti a glass engraved with Technion’s insignia.
After the ceremony, the delegation toured the campus followed by meetings between the Moroccan delegation and Technion faculty with the hopes of building research collaborations in areas including water engineering, energy, biotechnology and food engineering, biomedical engineering, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence.
